Might Never Be the Same
by I am no angel 0217
Summary: AU: Sandy and Martin didn't sleep together. Ruthie has a crush on Martin and is determined to make him her boyfriend.
1. Chapter 1

**Might Never Be the Same**

**Chapter One**

Ruthie sat in her English class staring out the window. She was daydreaming yet again. She couldn't get his eyes and his smile out of her head. He was the ideal guy, but she doubted that he would ever feel the same. He'd said so many times that he thought of her as a sister. She doubted that he would want to get into any "incestuous".

"Ruthie," Eliza whispered, "class is over."

Ruthie got up. She walked out to her locker. She saw Martin waiting for her.

"Do you need a ride?"

"Um, sure."

"Cool. I'll wait for you outside."

Ruthie smiled as he walked away. How could she be around him without expressing her feelings? She didn't want to ruin their friendship, so she decided she'd just keep hiding her feelings.

Michelle came running over to Ruthie. "Can you hook me up with Martin? He's so hot. I've got like the hugest crush on him. I know you're his best friend, so can you help me now?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't think so. It's only been a couple of weeks since Meredith broke up with him. I doubt he's ready for a serious relationship."

"Oh, okay."

Ruthie had just lied, but it was a plausible lie. Still, it was a lie. Martin was probably perfectly ready for a new girlfriend. Ruthie just wanted to be that girl.

She headed out to Martin's car where he was standing, arms crossed and smiling as he waited for her. He looked like some dream guy. In a way, he was a dream guy. He was Ruthie's dream guy.

Ruthie smiled as she got in the car.

"Good day today?" he asked her.

"What?"

"You're smiling like you had something good happen."

"Oh. Well, it was just a normal day."

"What happened?"

"I had 2 tests and some homework assigned."

"And you're smiling?"

"I'm just happy."

"You're strange, Ruthie."

"What'd you do today?"

"Same as you."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Ruthie wanted to say something cool. All she could come up with was asking him to come over and stay awhile at her house.

"I'd love to, but I've got a lot of homework."

"Oh, okay. You just said you had homework. I just assumed that you might have a little time."

"I really wish I could."

Ruthie was quiet for a minute. She was thinking. She wanted to spend more time with Martin, but she didn't want to seem suspicious.

They finally arrived at her house. Without thinking about it, when Martin turned to say goodbye, she kissed him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

I can't believe I just did that, Ruthie thought as she walked in the door of her house. She knew that she had been repressing her feelings towards Martin for a while, but she thought that she could keep them under control. She was sure that that kiss would probably drive him away. As soon as she got into her house, Ruthie ran upstairs and sat down on her bed. Her mind was racing too much for her to do homework.

"Ruthie," her mom called as she came up the stairs to Ruthie's room.

"What, mom?"

"I was wondering if something was wrong. You just came rushing in here and it seemed like something might be upsetting you."

"Nothing happened," Ruthie lied. "I just wanted some time alone."

"Oh, okay," Annie replied. "I'll be here if you need me."

"Okay," Ruthie said as she turned away from her mother.

Ruthie grabbed a hold of her pillow. She had to figure someway out of this situation. Maybe she could make a joke of it. Maybe she could just pretend that it never happened. Maybe Martin would just forget about it. If he forgot about it, that might hurt worse than knowing that she may have just ruined their friendship.

Martin sat in his car for awhile before going into his house. He was still trying to process the kiss. He'd always said that he thought of Ruthie like a sister, but lately, his feelings had changed. Now, she'd kissed him and he wasn't quite sure how to handle it. He wanted to kiss her back, but he was afraid to. He was afraid that maybe it was just a big mistake when she kissed him in the car. If he pushed hard enough, then maybe she wouldn't want to be his friend anymore.

Martin's father walked out to the car. "Are you coming in any time soon?"

"I don't know."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"It had to be something. You look too serious for it to have been nothing."

"Fine. A girl kissed me today and I'm not sure what I think about it."

"Well, do you like this girl?"

"I don't know yet."

"Did you not know before the kiss or after it?"

"Both."

"Well, son, I know it's a hard thing to deal with, but just go with your heart. I know it seems stupid to ignore your brain in matters like this, then you might miss out on something great."

Martin nodded. He got out of the car and took his books inside. He contemplated what to do. His heart was telling him to admit his true feelings about Ruthie, but his brain was still telling him not to. The fight between his mind and his heart was about to tear him up inside.

Ruthie came downstairs for some water. She needed a break from sitting in her room feeling so scared and confused. This was something that confused her to the bone. She was never this confused before.

"Is everything better?" her mom asked.

"I'm not sure," Ruthie mumbled.

"Is it really something that you think you can handle on your own?"

"Yes, mom. If I needed your help, then I would have come right out and asked for it."

Ruthie rushed back upstairs. She needed to be away from people right then. She tried to focus her attention on her English assignment. She was supposed to write the first draft of an essay, but she couldn't even figure out what her topic would be. She thought about making it about screwing up your life, but she wasn't quite sure that that would be a great title.

Ruthie decided that she did need to talk to someone, but it couldn't be her mom. She called Lucy's house, but Kevin picked up.

"Is Lucy home?"

"No, she's still at work."

"Can you ask her to call me when she gets home?"

"Sure, but why can't you call her at work?"

"Well, it's a bit personal and I don't want dad to hear any part of it."

"Oh. Well, you could talk to me if you'd like."

"I love the offer, but it's something that I need to talk to a girl about."

"What about your mom?"

"I need someone closer to my age."

"Oh. Well, I hear Savannah crying, so I need to go. I'll let Lucy know you called."

"Thanks."

Ruthie hung up the phone and sat on her bed feeling completely hopeless. She kept going over what she did in her head a million times, but she couldn't seem to figure out a way to deal with it. She wanted to be with Martin, but she just knew deep down that she'd driven him away for good.

Martin rang the doorbell at the Camdens' house. Annie came to the door.

"Hi, Martin," she greeted him

"Hi, Mrs. Camden," he replied. "Is Ruthie here?"

"Yeah. She's up in her room."

"I need to go talk to her."

"Oh, okay."

Annie didn't question why Martin needed to talk to Ruthie in person. They were best friends, so she didn't have to worry about anything going on between them.

Ruthie heard someone coming up the stairs. She sat up and turned around towards the door. She saw Martin and stood up. He came over to her quickly.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"This," he replied as he kissed her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"I can't believe you did that," Ruthie said as she pulled away.

"Why?" he asked.

"I thought you wouldn't want me."

Martin sat on Ruthie's bed next to her. "Why?"

"I'm just younger than you."

"So?"

"Well, I expected you to look at me like I was your sister."

"I did for a little while, but I saw you grow up, and I like the person you've become."

"I'm the same girl I've always been."

"No, you're not. You've changed. You may not see it, but I do."

Martin kissed her again. Then, they heard footsteps coming up to the room. They pulled away from one another. It was Annie.

"Are you two okay up here?"

"Yeah, I think so," Ruthie replied.

"I wanted to know if you needed anything."

"If I needed something, I would have told you."

Annie went back downstairs. Martin started to kiss Ruthie again, but she pulled away. "I can't do this here."

"Why?"

"My parents would kill me if they found out that I was in my bedroom kissing a guy."

"But it's just me. They wouldn't get suspicious."

"No, but they could walk in at anytime. Then they'd kick you out and ground me."

"Well, maybe we should do this at my house."

"What if your dad finds out? He'd call my parents."

They sat there trying to figure out what to do. It was so hard for the two of them to figure out how to handle this situation. They wanted to be together, but they knew that their parents might make this much harder than it should be.

"We could always be upfront with them," Ruthie finally said. "Mary and Lucy used to make out with their boyfriends downstairs."

"Where your parents could watch us?"

"Well, it's not like we're going to be doing anything that would get us in trouble, right?"

"Yeah, but I just don't know if it's a good idea."

"Trust me, it'll work. First we have to go on a date, though. That way they'll be more receptive to the idea."

That night, Ruthie decided to tell her parents that she and Martin had plans to go out on a date on Friday night.

"What do you mean?" Eric asked.

"We're going out for pizza and we're going to see a movie," Ruthie said slowly.

"No, back up," Eric said, 'did you say that you're going on a date with him?"

"Yes."

"Ruthie, he's a Senior," Annie said quickly.

"But you guys trust him," she reminded them. "He's not a bad guy. Yes, he's a little older, but he's still Martin."

"But he's like a member of this family."

"Well, can't he be a member of the family in another way?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you considered Kevin to be a part of the family before he and Lucy got married."

"Are you saying you're marrying Martin?"

"No, I'm just pointing out that you can consider someone to be a part of the family even though they're dating a member of the family."

"Ruthie, I don't know," Annie said.

"Come on, don't you trust me?"

"Of course we trust you," Eric replied.

"Don't you trust Martin?"

"Yes."

"Then what's the problem?"

"I just don't want you to rush into something."

"I don't think we're rushing, Dad."

"Fine. The two of you can go out on Friday."

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!"

Ruthie ran upstairs and called Martin.

"They said yes!" she exclaimed.

"They did?"

"Yeah."

"So we're on for Friday night?"

"Yeah."

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow at school."

"See you."

Ruthie hung up the phone and sighed. Her parents were actually going to let her do something that she'd only dreamed about for months now


End file.
